


Boiling Point

by redscout



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fire, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, Vampire Turning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26876935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redscout/pseuds/redscout
Summary: Although Nandor's familiar is dead, something is amiss, and his roommates have some explaining to do.
Relationships: Background Laszlo Cravensworth/Nadja, Guillermo de la Cruz/Nandor the Relentless
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Boiling Point

**Author's Note:**

> hi all i'm new to this ao3 circle but my partner and i binged this show last week and fell in love. this fic is a bit cliche (and also i wrote it in two days) perhaps but i'm rather happy with it and i hope you enjoy it too.
> 
> rated T for language/the show itself, marked fire because it's relevant and doesn't lead to any injuries or damage. also i promise the major character death doesn't actually pan out.

There had been no preliminary notice. No "five minutes 'til", no "later". A house meeting had been called _immediately,_ and Nandor was _pissed_.

His terrified roommates occupied the same, tiny space of a couch in the fancy room while Nandor hovered over them, aghast, his cape trembling in raw fury. Several feet off the ground, fangs bared, he was a true sight to behold, and the other vampires in the room beheld, alright, in a tense, sweaty silence.

"My familiar," he began, after a long, strenuous pause, "is _dead._ You heard me? Guillermo is _dead!_ " No one said something for a time; even Colin Robinson was decidedly silent, calculating visibly. Laszlo cleared his throat, but all that earned was a searing gaze he waved off apologetically, shrinking backwards against the couch's back. Nadja opened her mouth, attempting to resolve, somewhat, the palpable tension.

"Um--"

"Nadja, you have heard me correctly? Guillermo is _dead!_ How can you speak!?" Nadja then decided to hold her tongue, looking off and away.

"H-how did he die?" Laszlo asked, quietly.

"He was _murdered!_ " Nandor roared, snapping his gaze back to the vampire once more. "Before you ask this, I do not know by _who_ , but _somebody in this house has done it._ " Indeed, he spoke of teeth-marks; they all seemed to inference this and didn't feel like pushing their luck with questions.

"I want to know who did it." Nandor's voice wavered now, quieter. "Please, if you would just tell me." The silence returned; the sad little group looked between one another hesitantly, and no one on the couch stepped forward to claim such a deed. Crickets sung placidly outside, the only noise heard among the house's quiet halls.

"I'm sorry, Nandor," Colin Robinson spoke first, electing to get up. Nandor did not attempt to stop him; Colin Robinson gave him a curt pat on the arm as he passed, an apologetic gesture and the absence of feeding sentiment enough. Nandor's gaze held on the vampires on the couch, who looked between each other once again as if attempting to urge the other to speak up.

"Fine, if you will not tell me, be out of my hair, at least," Nandor said, finally, opening the door Colin Robinson had left through with a simple wave of his arm. "If you will not owe me his killer, you owe me time to myself."

Laszlo was the first to move, springing up shakily. "I'm sorry, chap. It wasn't me, but, still, I am truly sorry." He gave Nandor his peace with a nod as he left, leaving Nadja alone, looking sadly at her roommate.

"Nandor," she began, quietly, getting to her feet in slow caution. "If... if I must tell you the truth..." She paused, and he drew back in furious anticipation. "It was _me._ "

"Nadja?!" Nandor shook, rage seemingly anew, but she stood, arms outstretched.

"Please, let me explain--"

"I am _betrayed!_ "

"Nandor--"

"Even if I did not care so much for him, you--"

" _Nandor!_ " Nadja stamped her foot, silencing him, and he stopped, throwing her a scowl. "Let me explain, please." He said nothing else, crossing his arms expectantly and turning his nose up. She took a breath, and then continued. "Guillermo is not _dead._ " A pause.

"But--"

"He is... _undead_." Nandor's face changed immediately, dumbstruck, pointing at her. "Yes," she continued, "I turned him. I turned Guillermo."

"Why would you do this?" he asked, visibly shaken.

"Well... I don't know... I--"

"...I wanted to do it..." This interjection stung Nadja a bit, and something changed in her mind. Her eye twitched.

"Why... didn't you?" she demanded, suddenly, taking a step towards him. "Why had you not already done it!?" It was clear Nandor had no answer for this question, as he stared, and then guffawed half-heartedly, slowly lowering himself to the ground.

"Well... I... I just... hadn't..."

"I asked the wrong question yesterday," Nadja continued, more intense now, "and he told me of his whole sob story, how badly he wanted to be a vampire, how long he has waited-- _ten years,_ Nandor, of an unfulfilled promise! Do you know how old humans live to be!?"

"Um... two-hundred--?"

"Sixty, I think!" she snapped. "You have wasted a whole third of his life!" They were both silent for a moment, thinking, but then Nadja shook herself out, continuing. "It was just such a pitiful display, I could not take it any longer!"

"Why didn't you just promise him you would later?" Nandor asked. Truth be told, as annoying as the human's fit was, Nadja thought of the big, ugly tears at the edge of his tired eyes when Guillermo had dumped his emotional weight on her. A part of her was filled with a sort of disgusted pity at the time, but she supposed she was actually sorry for him, if only a little bit. And such an eager, hungry face.

"Why hadn't you turned him?" Nadja asked again, snapping herself back to the present. "The truth?"

"The truth... is..." Nandor sucked in a breath, silent for a long moment. "I... was afraid he would leave me." The comment hung in the room abnormally; it was not the answer Nadja was expecting, nor, seemingly, the answer Nandor expected himself to give. "I was afraid he would no longer need me, and leave."

"Oh, Nandor..." Nadja answered, her voice softening in an instant. "No longer need you... Why do you think Laszlo and I are still together?"

"That's different," Nandor stated matter-of-factly, turning away sheepishly. "Guillermo... we would never do something like that." Nadja rolled her eyes to herself, seeing through his deflection.

"It's not different."

"Yes it is," Nandor snapped back. "Guillermo would not be interested in that. And me, either, of course, not me." Nadja gave a long thought to that show of pure weakness and vulnerability the human had put on for her in that tiny little closet. The years he lamented, the stories he told her. The unspoken thoughts and feelings hiding just below the surface, close and passionate and yet, unable to draw forward, paralyzed by the thought of failure. Something about it reminded her of her dear, sweet Gregor. The pity she had taken, then, had been real.

"You do not know if you will not try," she declared, and stepped away from him. "You do not give these things enough time."

"I give them plenty of time!" Nandor retorted, throwing his hands at his side exasperatedly. "I do not even... _like_ Guillermo, he is, gross, and just my familiar and he just happens to be there all of the time and no other reasons." Nadja looked at him a long while, and, after a time, tutted in pique, beginning to leave the room.

"You do not know if you will not try," she repeated, and then swung the door closed after her.

-

When Guillermo awoke again, in a breathless jolt, alive, now, he certainly did not feel the part. Pale and sickly, sweating out of the blankets in his cot, he sucked in all the breath he could muster in his lungs and moved himself over, attempting to get to his feet to get some air. For all the moments he was ready to become a vampire-- and he still was!-- this transitional period still felt hard to get a grip of, and it filled him up with an anxious kind of self-doubt. Were anyone else around, he might've called it embarrassment.

He paced for a few gracious minutes, fear building inside of him-- what would his mother think? He could never go home again, he realized, she kept too many crosses in the apartment still and he knew by experience he couldn't keep that up very long at all. For all the time he had waited, he suddenly wasn't very sure at all that he wanted to become a vampire, and the thought was making him sick to his stomach-- or maybe that was just the transformation bubbling up again.

Dizzy, he dropped down onto the edge of his bed, breathing raggedly, and then decided that, this time, for sure, he needed to go get some fresh air. Guillermo hopped to his feet shakily, and then threw back the curtain--

"Ahh!" Nandor stood right behind the 'door', scaring the living shit out of him. Out of breath, he tried to maintain his composure in speaking. "Oh, Master, you sc--"

"Guillermo," Nandor said, calmly, cutting him off and making Guillermo swallow nervously. Nandor looked him up and down with a careful eye. "You look like shit," he said, finally. Guillermo stared at him stupidly for a moment, and then huffed.

"Thanks."

"But at least you are not dead, now." These words caused Guillermo to retreat again, suddenly sheepish.

"So... you know."

"Yes," Nandor nodded, "Nadja told me of her deed." They both stood in the silence for a moment, neither one electing to speak for the longest time. Guillermo kicked his feet, and then, feeling that panic attack trying to resurface, sat down on his bed again with a twitch. He opened his mouth, seemingly needing to explain.

"...Master, I--"

"Guillermo," Nandor tutted, shaking his head, "I am your master no longer, come now." Guillermo looked up at him, looking for some sign of a joke, but there was none; if it was indeed a smile Nandor wore, it was genuine. "I suppose," he went on. "Once you have completed your vampire transition, you will wash your hands of me and be gone of this place." Guillermo blinked at him, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"I... why would I go?" he asked, quietly, and Nandor's face brightened before he even realized what he was hearing. "I mean, if I wasn't allowed to stay here any longer I would understand, but..."

"Just... you know. Little vampire exploring the big world," Nandor said. He paused, closing his eyes for a second, gathering something within himself, and then continued. "No longer... weighed by the chains of servitude."

"That... wasn't my plan," Guillermo stated. They both looked away again, unsure of how to continue. The awkwardness in the air settled almost palpably, the silence of the house drowning them worlds apart.

"Guillermo," Nandor started, finally. His once-familiar looked up at him again, but he could not meet his eyes. "--I'm sorry I never turned you," he spat out in one breath, and this time it was Guillermo who held an expression of shock. "I... wanted to, but I did not want to scare you away." Those words stabbed at Guillermo like a stake. _Scare you away._ As if such an action would ever have such an adverse effect. He thought carefully about his next words while Nandor took his place beside him on his bed. Scooting to allow him room, he tapped his feet quietly, refusing to meet his eye line again.

"I... wish you would have." Guillermo spoke after a time, almost a whisper. They both sat there in the declaration, unsure of where to go from here.

"I know," Nandor elected to speak first. "I wish I would have, too." Guillermo knew if he looked up, then, he would be defeated, but he didn't; Nandor's wandering hand found the edge of his, pinky running along the folds of the inside of his fingers; an apology, a statement, all in one. Guillermo was positive if he still had blood to blush with he would be burning alive-- but, actually, that wasn't entirely so farfetched, as his hand suddenly caught flame.

They both shrieked in unison, launching from the vulnerable space like headless chickens, tumbling out of the closet into-- a full parlor. Neither Nandor, tamping out the fire on his hand with his cape, nor Guillermo, much too stunned to do anything, cared about their eavesdropping roommates, who scattered away to the edges of the room in a terrified stupor. As soon as Guillermo gained his bearings, the fire was gone, his hand completely unharmed.

"Fucking guy!"

"Bloody hell, man," Laszlo exclaimed, "he opens his heart to you and you set him on fire? What kind of--"

" _Guillermo,_ " Nadja started, suddenly, interrupting her husband and clasping her hands together excitedly. "Do... _that,_ whatever you just did, do it again!" Every occupant of the room stared at him in anticipation-- even Nandor, who had moved to Laszlo's side like a kicked puppy. Guillermo glanced at him and swallowed, but attempted to focus again... What had he done? Thought of fire? _Oh,_ that's exactly what he had done, he realized, his arms suddenly becoming engulfed in flames once more. Everyone in the room startled audibly, even Guillermo, crying out at his own ability and quenching the flames immediately.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle," Colin Robinson was the first to speak up again, a hearty smile on. "First he's dead, and now he's got fire powers, what shenanigans, haha."

"Yes, yes, Gizmo!" Nadja nearly jumped in excitement. "Fire powers! Your special vampire ability!" _So soon?_ Guillermo thought to himself. And so... _cool?_

"Why did you set me on fire, Guillermo?" Nandor demanded, suddenly, "We were sharing a little moment, and that was not very nice of you!"

"N... Nandor," he started, breathless, "I promise I didn't mean to, I just, thought about it, and--"

"You _thought about_ setting me on fire?"

"No! I thought about _fire!_ " As if on cue, Guillermo himself burst into flames this time, in full, and everyone in the room cried in awe once more. Although this was one of many shocking moments in the last ten minutes, Guillermo realized he no longer felt scared; the flames just lapped around him, a light warmth on his skin and clothes, nothing more, though the rug underneath him could not agree, so he brought an end to it and began to stamp it out frantically. The vampires stared, dumbfounded, now.

"...That is," Laszlo breathed, "so badass. 'Gratz, kid."

"So exciting!" Nadja nodded quickly.

"It-it doesn't seem very environmentally safe, for the house, I mean," Colin Robinson said, "but it is pretty cool. You know, this one time, I--"

"Guillermo," Nandor spoke again, softer. "No thanks to you for the fire, but thank you for... not doing it on purpose, I guess." Guillermo looked back at him with a lovely mirth in his eyes, wearing a smile.

"Um... yeah," he chuckled, seemingly totally adjusted now. "I'll... I'll try not to do it again. Next time, I mean."

"Next time?" Nandor asked.

"Next time, we, uh..." Guillermo trailed off, suddenly too aware of the room's other occupants once again. He kept his thoughts about burning alive behind his ears, now. Not knowing how to continue, he wiggled his fingers at his side. "You know what I haven't done yet? Eaten somebody." Nandor's gaze held on him for a moment, bright, wide eyes.

"I could help you with that?"

"Yeah, that sounds cool, let's go now," Guillermo said, hurriedly, brushing his way out of the room. Nandor followed in succession, just as fast, and Laszlo cupped his hands around his mouth to call after them.

"Oh, go fuck already!" Nadja laughed at him, and cracked up further as the edge of Laszlo's cape suddenly caught flame, bending over as she roared. Colin Robinson joined in on the mirth beside her, the delight in his terrified yells almost more delicious than his misery itself.

"You know, the fire thing is pretty cool," Nandor commented as they exited.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you could do a lot with that."

"I mean..."

"Like, set things on fire... light candles..."

"I don't really see how those are separate, but--"

"Agh, you know what, Guillermo, forget about it," Nandor exclaimed, but the statement preceded a yanking of Guillermo's hand to his side-- once again, the fledgling vampire found himself trying to blush in the absence of blood. This time, however, all his hand did was get a little sweaty, and Nandor the Relentless certainly was not going to relent his hand now. Unless, of course, it caught fire, which it was not going to. At once, Guillermo seemed to find peace with this new life he was about to begin, Nandor at his side. And for Nandor's part, he was no longer so worried about the fact that he was not the one who had turned his companion; he just cared to be with him. And, off to eat they were.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for sidelining colin robinson; i haven't found his voice yet. also sorry for half of it being about pyrokinetic guillermo i just got excited. thanks for reading hopefully i'll have more to post soon.


End file.
